Sales & Marketing August 13, 2010, 12:04PM EST

The Integrated Marketing Mess

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Besides, anybody who would ever call herself or himself a "guru" is just plain scary.

Don't worry about how you're going to get there until you determine where you're going. There are an infinite number of ways to get lost, and until you've charted a clear course, odds are that you will. Strategy has always, and must always, come first.

2. Don't do too much. Or too little. For companies that don't have a lot of money to throw at marketing, the availability of online media (particularly social media) is a wonderful development. But don't be deceived into thinking it's free. Add up all the staff time you're devoting to it (or being distracted by it), and you'll realize how many of your resources it's really consuming. And if you count time as less valuable than money, you're doing yourself a disservice.

"Because it's there" may be a good reason to climb a mountain, but it's not a good reason to chase every new form of media that comes down the pike. Not even the biggest marketers can afford to do that—not all at once, anyway. We all have finite amounts of time and money, and we need to invest them wisely.

On the other hand, in this rapidly-changing world it can be tempting to throw up your hands and resort to the familiar. The problem with that is twofold: Not only are you not taking advantage of potentially powerful new marketing opportunities; you're also neglecting the fact that the vehicles you've been using in the past may be losing audience, impact, or both. Most companies need a mix of tactics, each employed to its best advantage.

The important thing is to focus each tactic on a task for which it's naturally suited. Television is terrific at building awareness. Direct mail can be used to generate inquiries. Publicity is a powerful credibility-builder. CRM is a critical loyalty mechanism. Social media can encourage customer evangelism. The advantage of having a well-integrated plan is that you're not asking any one element to do too much.

3. Ask "what then?" This may be the most critical aspect in ramping up your integration efforts. Consider not only what you want prospects to do as a result of each form of outreach (become aware, visit your website, sign up for an e-mail newsletter, "like" your page, participate in your contest, etc.), but also what the next step will be for those who don't immediately convert.

Let's say you achieve a 1 percent click-through rate on banner advertising. No doubt some of the people who clicked through took the action that was intended, and your business benefited as a result. But what about those who lost interest and left the page? And what about the 99 percent who were exposed to your ad but didn't click through? Both are legitimate audiences who may need additional inducement or a different approach, yet most marketers simply let them go.

With today's technology, that doesn't need to be the case. By anticipating in advance the forks that will appear in the road to customer conversion, you can develop a plan to account for each. And you can build into that plan simple yet telling data analytics that will minimize wasted investment and make your efforts work much harder over time.

There has never been a better time for small marketers to act big. The tools, tactics, and best-of-breed vendors are increasingly available to help you take on larger competitors. But if your approach isn't integrated, you risk having your plan jerked here and there by the latest tricks and tactics, with no formal analysis of whether (or when) they make the most sense for your brand.

It's good to change your tires every so often, but if you neglect to align them, the ride may be rough—and you'll waste a lot of gas, even if you're headed in the right direction. Invest the time and effort to develop a properly integrated plan, and you'll be on your way to where you want to go with a lot fewer bumps.

Steve McKee is president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland Advertising, a firm that specializes in helping stalled companies rekindle growth. He is the author of the new book, When Growth Stalls.